


Illicit Affairs

by creoartem



Category: Hunger Games - Fandom, The Hunger Games
Genre: Backstory, Caesar's backstory, Chaptered, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, President Snow is abusive, that's a lot later on though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:02:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26149147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creoartem/pseuds/creoartem
Summary: There's a lot more to Caesar Flickerman than the face he puts on to the crowd, and a lot of things in his life, that's broadcasted to the Capitol, that the citizens don't know."And that's the thing about illicit affairsAnd clandestine meetings and stolen staresThey show their truth one single timeBut they lie and they lie and they lieA million little times."
Relationships: Caesar Flickerman/Finnick Odair, Cinna/Caesar Flickerman
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Illicit Affairs

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be a long one, as it traces through Caesar's life and backstory, so stick with me while it comes along! Chapters might come a bit slow, but they'll be worth it.

I squinted out at the solar panels, plucking the drying grass that lay under me. I wasn’t afraid of the reaping or anything like that, but I couldn’t help but think about how my name was in six times. It wasn’t as many as some others, but it was still quite a bit. I still had that uneasy feeling in my stomach though, knowing it was coming up. I knew someone in my district would be chosen, and that was scary and all, but mainly, I worried for my little brother, Claudius, more than all of them. I only had to make it through this year and next year… but he was twelve, and though the likelihood was much lower than even myself, I couldn’t help but worry for his safety. I told myself he’d be safe, repeating it like a mantra in my mind.

“Caesar!” I heard my mother call to me, and I turned. My house was only a few buildings down, windows looking out to the long dull grassy field in front of me, tall towering mountains in the distance. I grimaced and stood, wiping dirt off my clothes. The gentle smell of gas filled my nose, and I coughed. Most everyone in district five had a cough, considering all of the smog we created. The smoke and chemicals rested in the valleys and long fields, which is where I lived. I walked over to my house, moving the cool metal gate in my tiny ‘side yard’ that really was more like a thin alleyway. My mother, on her sober days, took care of the small garden. By small garden I meant very small, we had one pumpkin plant and one cucumber plant, and I watered them most days. They were a really lucky find, but they were expensive. We almost didn’t buy them, but my mother kept going on about this pumpkin pie she had when she was a little girl once, and I wanted to be able to give her that kind of happiness again. I wiggled past the soil and leaves, nearly tripping over a piece of the brick that had come out of place. I pushed back the front gate, which was also metal, the kind that criss-crossed in the middle, and turned to the left, where my small porch was. I pushed the wooden door open, and my mom sat at the kitchen table, her face in her hands, a bottle of wine sat next to her.

“Hi,” I said gently, putting my hands on a dining chair, “Are you okay?”

A stupid question, really. I knew that. The gentle smell of fire and wood pricked by nose. My mother didn’t respond, her head still resting in her hands.

“Mom…?” I said, trying to keep my voice soft.

“Shut the door behind you and close the curtains,” She said, her voice raspy. I could tell she’d been crying, which really wasn’t anything new for her, I was used to it, and I tried my best to be there for her through it all. Her drinking problem, though it made me have to take a step up in the family, never made me love her any less. I knew that my father’s career and absence that the Capitol made him have was hard on her. They were rarely allowed to see one another, I’d only met my father a handful of times in my life. I knew she worked hard to make sure my brother and I stayed safe. I considered myself pretty well off compared to some other kids in my district, and I was happy to take care of my mother when she needed it, since she took care of us. I turned around and shut the door gently so as not to slam it, I knew she got migraines a lot. I pulled the thick cloth curtains in front of the windows near the door, and I closed the curtains on the window down the hall, and stood in the hallway, fidgeting with my hands. My brother popped his head out from our shared bedroom, coming to stand behind me.

“Claudius go back into the bedroom, I have to speak with your brother.”  
“Mom I’m twelve now… I’m old enough to talk about stuff with you guys now I think. If I’m old enough to be in the gam-”

“Enough, Claudius,” My mother’s voice cracked as she snapped, and my heart sank, “I’m sorry dear. I- I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s okay, I understand, mom,” Claudius said softly. All of us knew what he meant. If he was old enough to die, he was old enough to talk about it. My heart ached, but I knew it was true. My mother would be more in denial of it, I could see it painted all over her face.

“It’s nothing about you, and nothing you need to fret about right now, alright dear? Go pick out a nice outfit, the one your uncle gave you should fit perfect,”

“Okay,” He said, and left the room quietly and swiftly. I joked about him being a mouse because of that, he could always step so lightly, and I would barely notice he was there until I saw him. My mother patted the table, gesturing for me to sit with her. I walked over to the dining room, flicked on the table lamp that sat on a small stand in the corner of the room, and sat with her, picking at the stained, old, lace table cloth.

“Caesar, I have something to tell you,” She said in a hushed whisper, “I need.. I need you to know that…”

“What?” I asked, watching my mother's bright blue eyes tear up, tears streaming down her cheeks. I’d never seen my mother look so distraught, so horrified before. Not even when I was first entered into the games. Some yelling and talking was heard outside, which caused me to sit up and look towards the window. My mother grabbed my hand and pulled me back quickly.

“I couldn’t tell you, they wouldn’t let me warn you-- I’m sorry, baby I am so sorry- if I'd have… If I’d have known… before this morning…Your father is… Oh I should have told you, I’m so sorry” She kept getting more frantic, her words choppy and bungled together. She held my hands tight with hers and a bang on the door was heard. My heart rate sped up. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Flickermans! Open up!” A loud voice was heard. My brother came out of the hallway and stood there in confusion and fear. My mother looked at the door and looked back at me before standing up and hugging me tight.

“What are you..?” I went to ask her what she was on about, what was happening, but the door slammed open before I could finish. She held me tight, but before I knew it Peacekeepers were pulling us apart. I breathed heavily, things going by in a blur. She reached for me, and I tried fighting back, but it was no use.

“Don’t let them change you!” She screamed, and I was pulled away from my home. I heard my brother call my name.

“Hey!” I yelled, “What did I do? Let me go!” I struggled against the peacekeeper, but I was small compared to him, and he was armed. Ahead of us was a beautifully polished, white capitol van. A Gloved hand slipped something into my mouth, and everything went dark.

\-----------

I woke up in a room that smelled like raspberries and cool metal. It smelled cleaner than anything I’d ever smelled before, and the air coming into my lungs was fresh and clear. I opened my eyes and winced at the brightness.

“Oh! You’re awake!” I heard a giddy voice say. I sat up and groaned, my eyes falling on a beautiful capitol woman. She had big fluffy pink hair and long white eyelashes. She wore a fluffy blue dress, and she bounced in her seat, as if she simply couldn’t sit still.

“Where am I?” I gasped, looking around. It was beautiful, everything I saw. The huge golden chandelier above us glistened, and I turned behind me to see windows, the world zooming past me faster than I’d ever seen it. It made me dizzy to watch, so I turned my eyes. I realized I was on a train... I was seated on a beautiful white curved couch, it was soft, softer than my bed at home.

“You’re on a train, silly,” The girl said with a shrill little giggle. I wanted to say she was around my age, but it was really hard to tell with all of that makeup.

“Yeah I can see that. Where to?”

“Someone’s grumpy,” She took a sip of a fizzy drink in a fancy glass that swirled three times. I’m sure it was supposed to look refined, but all I saw when I looked at it was a worm.

“I just got stolen away from my family and I have no idea where I’m being taken, so yeah, I’m a bit pissed,” I snapped, my heart feeling like it was going to buzz out of my chest and crash out through the windows behind me.

“You should be honored!” The girl said, standing up and putting her drink down, coming over to walk in front of me, “You get to partake in the most important part of our society! We’re going to meet President Snow!”

“What?” My heart dropped. She had to be kidding, but the giddy look on her face told me otherwise, “Why?”

“What,t you don’t know?” She said, sitting on the couch next to me and leaning close, her strong perfume hitting my face and her big white eyelashes batting cartoonishly.

“Uh- know… what?”

“Oh you poor thing you don’t even know where you came from! Well I was talking to Egeria, she’s President Snow’s assistant! And she said- well she said that you are a part of a very very long line of show hosts! I grew up watching your father on the television! To be able to work so closely with his son is such an honor,”

“Thank you… but how do you know he’s… he’s my father? My mother always told me to keep that a secret. ” I smiled awkwardly. It wasn’t really a smile, though, more just an upturn of the lips.

“Well haha, don’t you know? Oh you don’t know! This is so exciting! Well, once the show host in the family dies their first born takes their place as host of the hunger games! Isn’t that exciting? You get to live a life full of lavish and excitement!”

“D-Dies? My father is.. I have to… what?”  
“Yes oh- oh dear haven’t you been- You weren’t told! Oh no you weren’t told. I forgot! I just got so excited to tell you everything that I forgot how little you knew- I should have listened to what I was told and not said as much but sometimes it is simply so hard to keep my mouth shut! It’s all just so exciting- but oh you poor thing you’ve lost your father and I- oh dear. I’m Effie, by the way. I already know your name is Caesar, which I find it to be such a pleasant name and-”  
“This can’t be right… why wasn’t I told?” I felt sick to my stomach.

“Hmm?” Effie hummed, having been cut off from her ramblings. I heard the sharp clicking of heels, and a woman who must’ve been in her mid 30s approached the entryway to the room we were in. She wore a tight grey dress, with a green frill at the bottom, and her dark brown hair was swept up into a bun on the top of her head, wrapped in gorgeous green bows.

“Hello, Mister Flickerman,” She said, the words rolling smoothly off her tongue like chocolate, a striking contrast to Effie’s shrills, “I expect Effie has overspoke.”

Effie crossed her legs, looking down at her lap guiltily.

“I apologize, dearly and greatly, I do! It’s just- the poor thing! He just looked so confused and I thought that it would be quite nice if he knew a little more about where he came from and what he was meant to do before he go-” Effie spoke so quick, as if she knew that she’d be cut off within seconds and wanted to get her thoughts out before she was.

“Effie, that’s enough. You need to keep that mouth of yours under control before you disobey a very important order. The capitol relies on you to keep its secrets, we can’t have you blabbering your mouth all the time. President Snow is very particular about who gets told what, and when. Respect that, or face the needed consequences.”  
“Yes Egeria, thank you.”

“Good. Caesar, stand and come with me, I have some very important things to discuss with you before we reach the Capitol, We need to get you ready and prepared to meet President Snow, you can’t go meeting him looking like that, now can you?”

“Alright,” I said, my throat feeling dry. I didn’t know what else to say, and at this point, I realized I didn’t have much of a choice either way. I joined her, and she led me down the train, we dodged beautiful sculptures and seating areas, and I saw quite a few familiar faces which eyed me in intrigue, I felt as if I’d seen them on television broadcasts before, but I couldn’t place their names. Everyone from the Capitol looked the same to me.

“I’m sure you must be very confused,” Egeria said, “Your mother was instructed not to tell you about much of this, we like to keep family ties separate.”

“I’ve noticed,” I said, before realizing how disrespectful I sounded, “I don’t mean that in a rude way! Ha- I just… I simply know that my father has never been around, I’ve never known him very well.”

“Snow insists his show hosts have a chance at a regular childhood, he says a little suffering makes a person more entertaining.”

“Ah. My father… is he…?”

“Yes, your father has passed.”

“I see,” I was never close with my father, but the news still brought an odd sense of sadness to me. I’d met him maybe ten times in total in my life, for short fleeting amounts of time. My closeness with him was through the version of him I saw through the screens, but that wasn’t really him. The Lucky Flickerman I knew was the one who collected old coins and did magic tricks with them with his fingers, pulling them out of my ears and making me laugh. I felt a twinge of pain.

“I’m sure this doesn’t affect you much, considering you barely knew him, but you must remember to be grateful that Snow let you see your father as much as he did, not all show hosts get that luxury, Lucky had a special charm and work ethic that made Snow rethink the amount of contact he had with you, your mother, and brother. Although your brother’s existence ruined that for him,” Egeria was cold, but there was a warmness behind the stone face that seeped out in the way she spoke, even as her words contradicted herself.

“Claudius… Will he be alright?” I asked, biting my lip. We reached a white door with a golden handle, and she wrapped her hand around it, her bright green acrylic nails clicking together as she turned the door. We entered a small room lined with bright vanity mirrors that gave me an instant headache. There was a closet to the end of the room, filled with sparkly clothes.

“Your brother? Unless his name gets pulled, he’ll be fine. The only chance he’d ever become a show host is if something happened to you, which would never happen. The Capitol values it’s show hosts. Now, sit.”

Egeria gestured towards a stool, and I sat down, looking at myself in the mirror. I had a feeling that in just a matter of weeks, I’d be near unrecognizable. My hands shook so hard that I hid them, plucking at my pant leg.

“You need to get rid of that nasty habit. On stage, you must act completely calm and excited. Snow will have some classes to help you with that.”

“Classes?”

“Yes, you need to learn proper show host etiquette, after all.”

“Oh,”

“A stylist will be here in a moment to clean you up. Do you have any questions before I go?” Egeria said, obviously eager to leave the tension that had built up in the air.

“No,” I said. I felt as if I should’ve had more questions, but not a single question came to mind. I was confused and scared, but I didn’t even know where to begin. She swiftly left me alone in the room with my thoughts, and I held back frightened tears. I just wanted to go home.


End file.
